Ames, Iowa -
Junior Eric Gans finished 25th at the Iowa Sate Pre-National Invitational on Saturday, leading the UC Santa Barbara men's cross country team to a 20th-place tie out of 53 teams.

The Gauchos scored 634 points to tie the University of Portland. The 20th-place finish put UCSB ahead of several teams ranked ahead of them in the lastest Mondo NCAA Division I Cross Country Poll. The University of Portland also had 634 points, they were ranked 30th in the most recent poll. Arizona State, ranked 14th nationally and third in the West Region, finished 28th. South Florida, ranked 21st nationally, finished 23rd. Minnesota, ranked 28th nationally, finished 25th. Dartmouth, ranked 32nd nationally, finished 27th. Missouri, ranked 27th nationally, finished 36th.

Gans ran a 31:31.6 in the 10,000 meter run to place 25th. Joining him among Gaucho finishers were Josh Horton who clocked a 32:06.1 to finish 67th, Brandon von Guenthner who ran a 32:19.6 to finish 93rd, Aaron Sharp who ran a 33:10.5 to finish 204th, Dan Gaston who ran 33:53.0 to finish 268th, Steve Rider who ran a 34:04.5 to finish 284th and Noah Lidman who ran a 34:15.6 to finish 291st.